Shattering the Glass
by magpieforjoy
Summary: Robin figures it out. Spoilers for promos for "The Leap," and subsequently AU from that episode. Written in response to jaime55's prompt over at himym ficprompt.


"Barney," Robin nudged him with her shoulder. He looked up at her with a slight smile. "Half Asian with some boob, two o'clock. At least an 8, by the looks of it. This, my friend, is your lucky night!" Robin smirked to herself - she was the best wingwoman _ever_.

Barney glanced up at the woman briefly, then looked back at Robin, a strange expression on his face. "Yeahhh, you know, it's getting late and I should get some sleep. It's 9 o'clock - I need to do something for work -" Marshall shot Barney a look that clearly said,_ Bro,_c_ome on_, and Barney amended, "Actually, I'm late for a family dinner, and boy is Mom going to be upset. Bye guys!" He scrambled out of the booth and left the bar as gracefully as possible - which was not at all, then.

Robin grimaced. "Is it just me, or has Barney gotten exponentially more awkward recently?"

Marshall and Lily glanced at each other, and Marshall burst out, "Awkward? Ha! There is nothing awkward, or weird, or slightly different about Barney from what he's been like before! You're just imagining things, Robin! Nothing weird at all... I'm going to get some more drinks."

As Marshall made his way up to the bar, Robin raised her eyebrows at Lily. Lily's eyes widened, and she immediately looked down at her drink. After four years of friendship with the woman, Robin knew that this behavior from the couple meant that Lily had a secret that she was desperately trying to keep to herself but had spilled to Marshall. They both were terrible liars, and Robin would be very surprised if she didn't get them to tell her what was going on in the next five minutes. Robin had her suspicions, and if they were right, she had more to worry about and think through than Lily and Marshall's secret-keeping skills. Maybe if she didn't say it out loud?...

Robin caught Lily's eye as the woman finally looked up, sensing, inaccurately, that the danger was over.

_Lily, I need to talk to you._

Lily looked surprised. _Alright. Like this?_

Robin nodded. _Yes, I think it's better this way... you know, public area? I'm gonna tell you something - but don't freak out._

Lily frowned. _Okay..._

Robin raised an eyebrow, tilting her head at Lily. _Seriously! I don't want any jumping up and down or panicking -_

Lily looked at her pleadingly. _Rob-_

Robin interrupted, pursing her lips and biting the inside of her cheek. _And don't blow this out of proportion because I'm not even sure about it._

Lilly rolled her eyes. _Just tell me!_

Robin sighed. _I think Barney may have a... thing... for me._

Lily looked genuinely surprised, perhaps at this coming from Robin herself. "What?" Lily squeaked, then seemed to remember to contain her excitement._What? What kind of thing?_

It was Robin's turn to roll her eyes. _You know, a THING. A thing with__**feelings**__... You know what I'm talking about, right?_

Lily looked wary. _Yes-_She realized what she had let slip and began to backpedal._I mean no. I don't know. I don't know so no. Why would I know?_

Robin pinned her friend with a look. That had made absolutely no sense. This was why telepathic conversations didn't always work. Not that she thought Lily would be any more coherent out loud.

Lily bit her lip, clearly trying not to give anything away, but in that very expression, Robin knew that something very important had been given away.

Robin gasped as realization dawned. _Do you know something about this? Come on, woman!_  
_No..._ Lily looked away nervously.

Robin was too frustrated to keep up her part of the telepathic conversation. "Lily," she cajoled. Just then, Robin became aware of a beer being pushed toward her, and she looked up to see Marshall awkwardly handling his and his wife's beers.

"So! What'd I miss?" he asked brightly.

Lily looked from Marshall to Robin. Robin tried to shoot her a warning glance, but it was too late. There was no keeping Marshall in the dark about this anyway.

"Honey," Lily began, looking at Robin with a carefully neutral expression on her face. "Robin thinks that Barney may have a crush on her."

Marshall's face took on a pinched expression, but then he seemed to reconsider his reaction, and exploded, "What a bombshell! Who saw that coming?"

_Well, that answers my question._Robin felt tired all of a sudden. Was this really happening? "How long have you known?"

Marshall didn't miss a beat. "Seven months, twenty nine days."

As the glass shattered in Robin's mind, Lily at least had the grace to look embarrassed.


End file.
